This document describes the desired architecture for GBrowse version 2.0.
1) CGI Scripts:
gbrowse -- interactive search and browsing of genomic regions
gbrowse_img -- static images of genomic regions
gbrowse_details -- default details page
gbrowse_karyotype -- karyotype view for displaying multiple hits, genome-wide trends, etc
Typical flow for CGI scripts
use Bio::Graphics::Browser; # globals and utilities
use Bio::Graphics::Browser::Render::HTML; # UI driver
my $globals = Bio::Graphics::Browser->new('/path/to/globals.txt'); # new globals object
my $session = $globals->new_session;
my $dsn = $globals->update_data_source($session);
my $data_source = $globals->create_data_source($dsn);
my $render = Bio::Graphics::Browser::Render::HTML->new($data_source,$session);
$render->run;
exit 0;
There is also a shortcut that lets Render do the session management
my $globals = Bio::Graphics::Browser->new('/path/to/globals.txt'); # new globals object
my $render = Bio::Graphics::Browser::Render::HTML->new($globals);
$render->run;
=================================================================
2) Bio::Graphics::Browser
This object is used to obtain all global settings. It is also
responsible for creating/restore the user session and selecting the
data source name.
Create a new globals object:
$globals = Bio::Graphics::Browser->new('/path/to/globals.txt');
Get the IDs of all valid data sources:
@data_sources = $globals->data_sources;
Create or retrieve the persistent settings (optionally forcing the ID):
$session = $globals->session ([$id]);
Create the data source-specific configuration, a
Bio::Graphics::Browser::DataSource object:
$data_source = $globals->create_data_source($dsn);
Get the value of an option in a section name ('general' by default):
$setting = $globals->setting('section name' => 'value');
Examples of using setting():
$label = $globals->setting($data_sources[0] => 'description');
$path = $globals->setting($data_sources[0] => 'path');
Find the new data source based on CGI path information and/our the
'source' parameter. This will return the current source if the
requested new source is invalid.
$dsn = $globals->update_data_source($session);
The globals file lists all the data sources as well as browser-wide
globals. Some of the globals, such as the stylesheet path, can be
overridden by specific data sources. Others can't. This needs to be
determined on a case-by-case basis and the logic for this should be
embedded in Bio::Graphics::Browser::Render.
To simplify organization, there will be two top-level paths, one for
config files, and one for htdocs files. If any path configs are given
as relative paths, then these top-level paths are used to make them
absolute.
Note that for efficiency's sake, the Bio::Graphics::Browser object may
be cached and reused, provided that its config file hasn't been
updated.
[GENERAL]
# path globals
config base = /etc/gbrowse
htdocs base = /var/www/htdocs/gbrowse
stylesheet = /absolute/path or ./relative/to/docs_base
icons = /absolute/path or ./relative/to/docs_base
plugins = /absolute/path or ./relative/to/config_base
languages = /absolute/path or ./relative/to/config_base
# the default DSN
default source = HUM77
# session globals
session settings = settings
# other globals
max_segment = 5000000
global1 = setting1
global2 = setting2
# subsequent stanzas are data sources
[HUM77]
description = Human Build 77
path = /etc/gbrowse/hum77.conf
[MouseV3]
description = Mouse Test database
path = /var/htdocs/gbrowse/conf/mouse_test.conf
hide = 1 # hide from popup menu
restrict = ## additional authentication options?
=================================================================
3) Bio::Graphics::Browser::Session
This object is responsible for persistent per-user settings. It is
created by the Bio::Graphics::Browser object based on the session
configuration globals. It has the following methods, all of which are
in the current Bio::Graphics::Browser::PageSettings object:
Create new session from provided arguments:
$session = Bio::Graphics::Browser::Session->new(@args);
Flush to disk or database:
$session->flush;
Return per-session ID:
$id = $session->id;
Retrieve a hash of persistent page settings:
$session->page_settings;
Get or set the data source DSN:
$dsn = $session->source([$new_dsn]);
=================================================================
4) Bio::Graphics::Browser::DataSource
This is the data-source specific configuration. It is identical to the
Bio::Graphics::BrowserConfig package that is currently defined inside
Bio/Graphics/Browser.pm.
It supports the methods:
labels()
overview_tracks()
regionview_tracks()
karyotype_tracks()
authorized()
label2type()
type2label()
style()
semantic_setting()
semantic_label()
etc.
Note that for efficiency's sake, the
Bio::Graphics::Browser::DataSource objects may be cached and reused,
provided that their corresponding config files have not been updated.
ADDED 5/4/07 -- I think that the DataSource should be able to manage a
cache of database objects. The syntax is:
my $biodas_style_handle = $datasource->database('track_label')
If track_label is null or not found, the default database is opened.
=================================================================
5) Bio::Graphics::Browser::Render
This is the base class for driving the browser. It contains all
methods common to the template, HTML and Ajax versions.
$render = Bio::Graphics::Browser::Render->new($data_source,$session)
The global configuration, the data source configuration, and the
session are passed in as separate objects and stored as instance
variables.
=================================================================
6) Bio::Graphics::Browser::RenderTracks
This class provides methods for generating the images and imagemaps
themselves (the core of the application!).
$view = Bio::Graphics::Browser::RenderTracks->new($datasource,$page_settings);
Create a new view object using information from the provided data
source and settings.
@requests = $view->request_panels({labels=>[list,of,labels],
featurefiles => [list,of,3d party
features],
deferred => 1
});
This returns a series of CachedTrack objects, which can be
interrogated for the GD object, the imagemap, the width and height of
the object. If "deferred" is true, then the CachedTrack objects will
not contain the data until some time has passed (processing is
occurring in the background). Check the CachedTrack's status() method
to find out whether the data is ready.
Each CachedTrack has a unique request ID associated with it, which you can
get by calling its key() method. If a CachedTrack is pending, you can
later use this key to generate an equivalent CachedTrack:
my $cache =
Bio::Graphics::Browser::CachedTrack->new(-base => $directory,
-key => $key);
if ($cache->status eq 'AVAILABLE') {
my $gd = $cache->gd;
}
The -base is a directory where the cached track stores its state. The
server knows how to find the base.
THE CLIENT SIDE
The client should maintain a series of

sections corresponding to
each of the tracks in the overview, region and detail panels. These
sections dynamically open and close, and use the Scriptaculous system
of drag-and-drop to reorder themselves.
TRANSACTION NOTES
Step 1: The client-side controller for the page detects when user
actions have changed the current view, and sends a request to the
server informing it of this fact.
*Note* need to figure out the format of this request -- the
information on coordinates is contained in the slider table form and
probably easist just to pack this up in serialized form (using
prototype's form.serialize()) and send it in.
Step 2: The server updates its state and calls
RenderPanels->request_panels() to create a series of CachedTrack
requests. It sends back to the controller a response that associates
the requested track labels with a series of CachedTrack keys.
Step 3: The controller now tells various page elements that their data
has changed and they need to update themselves. In particular, it
should tell each of the track

s to update themselves using the
corresponding CachedTrack key. The track

s should use an
asynchronous request to poll the server until the image and map data
are ready.
HOW ASYNCHRONOUS CALLS ARE MADE
Asynchronous calls need to be consolidated in the server. Currently
they are handled in an ad-hoc manner. I suggest that asynchronous
calls standardize on a URL like this: /gbrowse/source/async, and that
the POSTed requests and responses use JSON format. This provides
support for nested hashes, lists of lists, etc, and has nice Perl and
Prototype support.